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Accra is the capital of Ghana and the largest city of the country. It is the administrative, communication and economic center of the country. The primary economic activities are financial and government services, communications, constructions, transportations and agriculture, particularly fishing.
General climate and the best time to visit
Since Ghana is only a few degrees north of the equator, the only seasonal changes that are distinct are: wet and dry seasons. The best time to visit Accra is during December – February, when the day temperature is between 80° F to 90° F or 27° C to 36° C. and nights are 70° F or 18° C to 26° C. Another dry season occurs in July and August but its hotter that time. The worst time to visit is April – June when its the rainy season. A dry northeast wind known as the harmattan blows almost continuously in January and February. The eastern coastal belt is warm and dry, the southwest corner has the highest humidity and rainfall, while the north is generally hot and dry.
Area and Location
Accra is located at 5° 30' North and 0° 10'West. It is bordered on the north and north – west by Burkina Faso, on the east by Tago, on the south by the gulf of Guinea, and on the west by Cote d'Ivoire. The total area of Ghana is 238,500 square kilometer. It is a lowland country, except for a range of hills on the eastern border. The highest point of Ghana is the eastern hills of about 880m above the sea level. To the north lies an undulating savanna.
Delicacies of Accra
Ghanaian cuisine consist of diverse traditional dishes from each ethnic group, tribe and clan. Generally, the major portion of the Ghanaian dishes consist of starch and a sauce or soup saturated with fish, snails, meat and mushrooms. Some of the main starchy dishes are:
- Cooked rice
- Fufu – pounded cassava and plantain or pounded yam and plantain or pounded cocoyam
- Banku / Akple – cooked fermented corn dough and cassava dough
- Kenkey / Dokono – fermented corn and cassava dough, wrapped in corn or banana leaves and cooked into a consistent solid paste
Most of the dishes of Accra are usually served with a stew or soup (often based on tomato with protein cooked in it). The most popular soups are groundnut soup, light soup and palmnut soup. Okra soup and stew are also popular. Usually rice and kenkey are served with soup or stew, while banku, fufu, akple and konkonte are served with soup.
Another popular dish of Accra is kelewele. It is sometimes served with rice and at other times it is eaten alone as dessert. Another popular dish is kontomire which is mashed up taro or cocoyam leaves. It is often mixed with bits of tuna and egusi (pumpin seeds) and dressed with palm oil.
An alternative to the starch and stew combination is Red Red, a popular and easy to find dish. It is a combination of mashed bean stew and fried plantains.
Government
As the country prepared to move towards constitutional rule, the major concern of Ghanaians was to ensure a relatively smooth and peaceful democratic transition. It is against a background of intense mutual hostility, distrust and vicious political rivalry that the democratic transition occurred in 1988 and the inauguration of the Fourth Republic was marked in January 1993. The Members of Parliament are selected for a period of minimum of five years and maximum of ten years. The President nominates the chief justice. The government of Ghana is shaped by its constitution. The government has to abide to the rules and regulations led by the constitution. Any law that goes against the constitution is canceled.
Log on to countriesandcapitals for further information on Ghana and its capital city, Accra.
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